But when one forces a group of sticks to lie together, in the same direction, next to or on top of one another, for such purpose as, for example, to hide a geocache underneath them, they become much more practical and powerful than their normal, unruly brethren. They become Kings Among Sticks.

A common method is to take a bunch of sticks, and pile them on top of the cache to obscure it. The problem (or perhaps deliberate benefit to other cachers) is that usually these sticks are carefully placed next to or on top of one another, in parallel.

However, as our story illustrates, sticks do not normally fall or otherwise gather themselves in such a deliberately, logically and geometrically arranged fashion.

Therefore if you are looking for a cache in the woods, and you happen upon a pile of sticks that are lying in parallel, you have probably found it.